I AM My Hair, and My Hair is Me: #BlackGirlMagic in LIS

Authors

Teresa Y. Neely PhD, University of New Mexico - Main CampusFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

Fall 9-2018

Abstract

Chapter 5 in Pushing the Margins: Women of Color and Intersectionality in LIS. Using intersectionality as a framework, this edited collection explores the experiences of women of color in library and information science (LIS). With roots in black feminism and critical race theory, intersectionality studies the ways in which multiple social and cultural identities impact individual experience. Libraries and archives idealistically portray themselves as egalitarian and neutral entities that provide information equally to everyone, yet these institutions often reflect and perpetuate societal racism, sexism, and additional forms of oppression. Women of color who work in LIS are often placed in the position of balancing the ideal of the library and archive providing good customer service and being an unbiased environment with the lived reality of receiving microaggressions and other forms of harassment on a daily basis from both colleagues and patrons. This book examines how lived experiences of social identities affect women of color and their work in LIS.

Publisher

Library Juice Press

Publication Title

Pushing the Margins: Women of Color and Intersectionality in LIS

First Page

121

Last Page

146

Language (ISO)

English

Keywords

Black women, #BlackGirlMagic, LIS, librarianship, Black hair, Natural hair, Black women in LIS, Black women in higher education, academic libraries

Recommended Citation

Neely, Teresa Y. “I AM My Hair, and My Hair is Me: #BlackGirlMagicinLIS”. In Pushing the Margins: Women of Color and Intersectionality in LIS, edited by Rose l. Chou and Annie Pho, 121-146. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2018.